One Day in London

Now you have me thinking about it. I can't personally recommend it since I've never done a bike tour in London, but we use Fat Tire Tours in Barcelona and enjoyed it. https://www.fattiretours.com/london/tours-activities/

Just me, but I wouldn’t want to ride a bike in that traffic. On a business trip a few years back I took a coworker who had never been to London on a 3-hour whirlwind tour of all the main sights using the tube. We didn’t have time to go in anyplace, since we arrived in the city from Cheltenham mid-afternoon, but he was able to at least see them.

Forget the bike.

Where will you be staying?

Easier to offer an itinerary that would make sense depending on where your accommodations are.

Other options include:
You could do a guided walk of London with the London Walks company.
Or you could just use a map and walk the areas around Westminster, Trafalgar Square, and other areas on your own.
Or you could get on one of the many Hop On Hop Off bus tours that cover all the sights. Most do a loop around London that takes 2 hours if you don't get off the bus. However, the whole purpose of the HOHO bus is that you can hop off, walk around an area, hop back on the next bus that comes along, and continue onward to another sight you want to see.
Forum members debate about whether they like or dislike the Hop On Hop Off bus tours. But it is a way to see all the sights quickly when you're only going to be in London for a short time.

I googled bike tours and found several. Tally Ho Cycle Tours is one. The first thing I did upon arrival on my first trip to London was to walk across Green Park to Buckingham Palace and I was just in time for the changing of the guard. You will be too late for that, but if the weather is nice, it's a beautiful area to walk around. If you stay near the Eurostar station, you could visit the British Library at 96 Euston Road and see the Treasures Gallery. You could also walk to the British Museum and just see one or two exhibits like the Egyptian Collection or there is a special Stonehenge Exhibit on through July 17. Also, there are shops and restaurants in the train station. Wished I would have known that the night before I took the train to Paris.

Thanks all, some good ideas to explore! We’re staying at the Hyatt Regency Churchill, which I’m not sure is the most central for things? It’s a splurge for us with our points. Happy to walk, use subway Uber, etc to get somewhere we need to go visit.

We did the hop on hop off in NYC on our last day there since we were flying out later in the day. Didn’t get off until later on as we just wanted to sightsee and relax a bit and we’d seen a lot of the highlights that were top of the list. Didn’t enjoy it too much as traffic was horrible, which who’d have thunk it in NYC! 😄

We did do a bike tour in Munich a few years ago and loved it just to get around town and see some of the places we hadn’t made it to, and a couple beer gardens! Lol that’s why I was thinking for the afternoon to do something similar.

We also thought about maybe a food tour or pub tour, but we’ll have seen plenty with the family the prior week. Haha

Thanks for some options to explore! Love the ideas!

My suggestion is:

If it is a Sunday you can take the HOHO bus, but on weekdays the traffic is terrible. I cannot compare it to NYC, but London was designed for horses and horse carriages, so the roads are much narrower.

On a week day:
Walk south to see Buckingham Palace. Don't wait for the changing of guards. It takes forever and you will probably not see much anyway unless you are much taller than the other tourists (I'm not)
Continue south to the Thames, cross it and walk east along the river till Tower Bridge.
See The London Eye, The National Theatre, Shakespears Globe, The Borough Market, The Shard.
Cross Tower Bridge and walk back and see The Monument, Sky Garden, St. Pauls Cathedral, Covent Garden (including London Transport Museum), Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, follow Regent Street to Oxford Circus (see Liberty) and walk west along Oxford Street and see all the shops (my favourite is Selfridges) and you are back :-)

If you want more walking you can take a stroll in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

Have a nice trip.

I wouldn't want to cycle in London, the driving standards there are appalling, driving there is bad enough but at least you have better protection in a car. Personally I'd prefer a combination of walking, bus and Tube.

what day of the week will it be?

for the next morning, are you aware of the check in time at Eurostar and the formalities?

These suggestions will be based on timing and assumptions.

If you arrive from Manchester on time ( I’m assuming you are arriving by train at Euston station) it will be another 30-60 minutes before you get settled at the Hyatt. Lets say you’ll be ready to head out from the hotel by 2pm.

As you mentioned bicycles I suspect you are fit and don’t mind walking, which, to me is the best way to see London.

Thoughts:

See a few of the iconic sites exterior POV only. I’m referring to Buckingham Palace, Parliament and Westminster Abbey known as Parliament Square. From the Hyatt Its a 2 mile stroll from to there. If your timing is close Big Ben, the bell inside Elizabeth’s Tower will chime on the hour. That occurrence will establish you are not in Kansas anymore. From Parliament Square follow Birdcage Walk up to the Palace. Then head through Green Park to the Rose and Crown pub for a pint and some food. Then you could walk in Hyde Park towards Marble Arch and back to the Hyatt.

Another option is see Parliament Square then walk over Westminster Bridge and follow the Thames path by the London Eye past Jubilee Gardens. Past the carousel is Beany Green where you can grab a coffee. Little booth at the foot of the Jubilee Bridge.
The view back towards Parliament is the iconic POV.
Really nice at sunset. From here stroll up to see the graffiti tunnel near Waterloo station.

A third idea would be from the Hyatt walk to Bond Street Underground Station and board Jubilee Train (gray ) to Baker Street Station, Mind the Gap and board a Bakerloo train ( brown) to Warwick Ave. Exit the station and walk a long block to the Regent Canal and follow the canal path.

I’m referencing colors because on the tube map you’ll see each line has a designated color.

If you can find them the pocket size tube maps are great.

London is never boring. Lots to explore and experience even in a short amount of time.

Wow some great suggestions on walking, thank you! Looks like walking would be our plan then, especially with the added info on the roads and traffic for bikes. We will arrive on a Monday (hoping around noon, maybe a bit earlier) and leave on Tuesday morning. I'd guess getting to the Eurostar station around 8:30-9:00 would be good as our train leaves at 10:22? I haven't looked at the transport options to the station yet though.

Thanks!

9 should be ok

at least an hour as long as you aren't there in the peak hours. 10:20 is pretty late in the day

Or you could get on one of the many Hop On Hop Off bus tours that cover all the sights

No experience with HOHO buses in London, but in other cities they stop running in the early evening, passing by a stop every 15 minutes or so ... best to start early in the morning so you are not rushed after you hop off, look around, and hop back on, but since you wouldn't start until maybe 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, I wouldn't suggest it.

My suggestion ... take the tube (or bus or taxi or walk) to Trafalgar Square, walk down the mall to Buckingham Palace, then over to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament ... then catch the water taxi at Westminster Pier and take a cruise down the Thames, getting off at Tower Pier ... either have dinner down there or take the tube back to your hotel. You'll get a glimpse of many of the major attractions.

Have a look at one of Rick Steves self guided tours or walks. I enjoyed the last one historic London.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/london

Finally digging deep into this project. Work has been so crazy!! Thank you all for the input.

I've looked at the above, how does this walking tour sound (I blended a couple of them)? It's about 6-7 miles, which may be a bit long (my wife thinks it is! lol). I try to keep in mind we'll return, but it's hard to always follow that advice, but any suggestions to shorten it are welcome as well. We would leave our hotel about 3ish (Arrive Euston Station at 1 PM).

-Take Cab to Buckingham Palace then follow this route:

Buckingham Palace-Parliament-Westminster Abbey-Parliament Square-London Eye-Jubilee Gardens-National Theater-Shakespeare's Globe-London Bridge-Tower of London-St. Paul's Cathedral.

Along the way have a bite to eat for dinner (suggestions would be great). From St. Paul's Cathedral, take taxi (or tube from St. Paul's to Marble Arch).

I'm going to give a second vote to the Thames Path. It will take you right by or nearby many of what most people would consider to be the highlights of first time visit to London. Combine that with the hop on/hop off bus tour, and maybe actually visiting one of the places you walk by such as the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, and you've got a nice full day.

I'm not a biker so I can't speak from experience, but definitely agree that London is not Amsterdam or Copenhagen when it comes to ease and comfort of biking around the city.

I've looked at the above, how does this walking tour sound (I blended
a couple of them)?

Is the idea to just walk by everything and not to go in? If so, as long as your reasonably fit, 6-7 miles is nothing and it may be an interesting walk and there will always be a pub or two along the way to rest and have a pint. But if your idea is to visit some of these sites then you need to cut back. You could spend your day in the Westminster/Buckingham area. My favourite within London was the Tower where we spent about 5 hours.

It's been a long time since I read this article, but here's a blog from Cameron Hewitt that may be of use. https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2019/07/promenading-london/